U.S. Says Diplomat Quit Post, Then Met With Taiwan Agents

By JOEL BRINKLEY; Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong Kong for this article, and Richard Oppel from Washington.

Published: September 17, 2004

A former senior State Department official charged with trying to conceal a prohibited trip to Taiwan last year resigned from the government on July 30 and then met with two Taiwan intelligence agents the next day, according to a criminal affidavit filed in federal court.

The affidavit does not ascribe a motive, financial or otherwise, for the former official, Donald W. Keyser, to meet with agents of Taiwan's government and pass information to them. But it does say that during that meeting on July 31, at a restaurant near his suburban Virginia home, Mr. Keyser passed letter-sized white envelopes ''that appeared to bear U.S. Government printing'' to each of the agents.

A short time later, the affidavit adds, Mr. Keyser left the restaurant, ''carrying a manila envelope that was folded up.''

The affidavit does not charge Mr. Keyser with espionage. Nor does it say that the material Mr. Keyser passed to the agents, in several meetings both before and after Mr. Keyser left office, contained classified information. But it notes that the affidavit may not include everything the government knows, and it would not be unusual for the Justice Department to file additional charges later.

Mr. Keyser, a China expert who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, had served in the Foreign Service since 1972. He held postings in China and Japan and served in successively more senior positions dealing with Asian affairs. When he resigned, Mr. Keyser was principal deputy assistant secretary of state with broad involvement in American policy toward East Asia.

In that job, former officials and experts said, Mr. Keyser was involved in policy debates and decisions that were of critical concern to Taiwan.

In 2000, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright suspended and reassigned Mr. Keyser, who was one of six officials disciplined over the loss of a laptop computer containing classified information.

Mr. Keyser lives in suburban Fairfax County, Va., where county tax records show that he owns a four-bedroom home with a current assessed value of $560,540.

Mr. Keyser appeared in federal court in Alexandria, Va.,on Wednesday, charged with trying to conceal his trip to Taiwan last September. He was released on a $500,000 bond but ordered to surrender his passport and wear an ankle bracelet that allows officials to monitor his location.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 13. He could be sentenced to five years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines would likely send him to prison for a much shorter period and might not include any jail time at all.

Mr. Keyser, 61, held top secret and ''sensitive compartmentalized information'' security clearances. Officials with that level of clearance are required to report their foreign travels to the government. And because the United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, American diplomats are not allowed to travel to Taiwan on official business.

The State Department said Mr. Keyser is now assigned to the Foreign Service Institute, where he is enrolled in a career transition program for retiring employees. Richard A. Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said the department had been aware of the investigation and has been cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ''for months.''

Although Washington transferred diplomatic relations from the government of the Republic of China, Taiwan's formal name, in Taipei to the government of the People's Republic of China in Beijing in 1979, the United States and Taiwan maintain a close but difficult relationship. The United States has long promised to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but Washington's relations with China grow more substantial every year.

''Taiwan is always extraordinarily anxious about U.S. policy toward China,'' said Kurt Campbell, a former senior Pentagon official. ''They have a very strong interest in finding out what is going on inside the U.S. government.''

Taiwan grew more concerned after President Bush, meeting with the China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, in December, said he opposed any movement by Taiwan toward formal independence. Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan, and has not renounced the use of military force to achieve reunification.

Bates Gill, an expert on China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Mr. Bush's statement was ''embarrassing, humiliating for Taiwan.'' And Stephan Chang, spokesman for Taiwan's office in Washington, acknowledged that the president's remarks ''caused some anxiety.''

Mr. Gill said ''an important part of Taiwan's diplomacy in the United States has to include an assessment of the political relationship and the security commitments to protect Taiwan.'' That sort of information was central to Mr. Keyser's position at the State Department, the court affidavit said.

Mr. Chang said, ''We do abide by the law and regulations of the United States.'' While the Taiwan office is not an embassy, officials there hold diplomatic immunity from prosecution. An official knowledgeable about the case said he believed the two agents had not left the country.

The arrest drew little attention in Taiwan, where the evening newspapers relegated it to reports on inside pages. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said he did not expect it to have an effect on Taiwan's relations with the United States.

The court affidavit says Mr. Keyser traveled to China on official business at the end of August 2003. A few days later he flew to Tokyo and from there flew on to Taiwan, where he spent three days.

''To conceal his trip,'' the affidavit says, Mr. Keyser ''claimed three days of annual leave for time purportedly spent in Tokyo -- the same three days he was actually in Taiwan -- and stated on his travel voucher, as explanation for his annual leave, that he 'found prospective interlocutors to be out of town.'''

Questioned by F.B.I. agents after his arrest early this month, Mr. Keyser said he had gone to Taiwan for sightseeing but acknowledged that he had met one of the Taiwan intelligence agents from Washington while there.

The affidavit describes numerous meetings between Mr. Keyser and one of the agents, or both of them. It says Mr. Keyser told the F.B.I. that the agents had requested all of the meetings.

Photo: Donald W. Keyser, a former top State Department official, is said to have concealed a trip to Taiwan. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)